CANDIDATE PRE-INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE Resumes and applications provide us with useful information but we find that is also helpful to provide candidates with an opportunity to provide additional information on their interests, skills etc. Please help us understand you better by answering these questions. It s important that you answer the questions honestly, so that we can accurately assess your fit with this job and the organization. Please be aware that your answers may be verified during your interview or during reference checks. Your name Job title you are applying for Please answer each of these questions to the best of your ability. We don t expect any deep thoughts, so just answer the questions quickly and as honestly as you can. Please remember that several of the questions require you to assign points or weights to your answers, while others ask you to list your preferences in descending order (i.e. to list the most important one first and the least important last). Category 1. Your strengths and weaknesses A. What job responsibilities and duties do you excel at? In order to ensure that this job allows you sufficient opportunity to perform the duties where your performance as clearly excellent, we need to know which jobs duties and responsibilities that you are most proficient at. Using the job duties and responsibilities listed in the job description for this job (if it is not available, just list the responsibilities for your desired job) list the #1 responsibility that you do best. Then list the remaining job duties in descending order. Job responsibilities and duties that you excel at: Note: Please start the list with the job duty or responsibility where your performance is the highest. B. Do you have any supplemental skills, knowledge areas or experiences that we should know about? We like to provide candidates with an opportunity to highlight any skills, knowledge areas, or experiences that, although they are not directly utilized in your current job, may provide value in our organization. Examples might include language skills, knowledge of equipment, sales or leadership skills, etc. Please list any below _ C. What are your key strengths? Please list in descending order your job-related strengths (even if these strengths have been listed in other questions): D. What are your most obvious weaknesses? Please list the job-related weaknesses that your supervisors and coworkers have pointed out to you in performance appraisals, team debriefings etc. (even if these weaknesses have been listed in other questions). List what others have said is your biggest weakness first:
Category 2. Motivation and frustrators A. What are the key motivators that excite you to perform at your very best? It s important that a job and organization be able to provide the right motivators to new hires so that they can excel. Help us understand what motivates you by listing your key motivators in descending order below. Typical motivators might include pay, benefits, recognition, schedule flexibility, new challenges, learning opportunities, promotional opportunities etc. B. What makes a job fun? We try, whenever possible, to provide a stimulating environment for our employees. Please help us understand what excites you by listing anything that in your experience makes a job fun for you: C. What are the changeable aspects of a job, manager, or organization that normally frustrate you the most? What were the changeable aspects of your last two jobs that you liked the least? Provide us with this information so that we can be sure that this opportunity does not contain many of those frustrators. If you re hired, we will do our best to try to avoid similar issues in your new job. Please list your frustrators in descending order of importance. Note: Please start the list with the factor that frustrates you the most. D. Why specifically did you quit your last job? Please provide us with this information so that we can be sure that this opportunity does not contain any of those factors. If you re hired, we can try to avoid similar issues. Note: Please start the list with the primary reason that you left. _ E. Describe the perfect manager. Describe the behaviors of a manager that would facilitate your very best work. One of the criteria that can be used to assess your fit with our organization is whether we can provide you with the types of management styles that cause you to flourish. Please list the specific management behaviors or actions that you consider the most desirable. Typical management behaviors can include frequency of communication, frequency of praise, the amount and areas of flexibility provided to the employee, the types of decisions where employee input would be sought, the appropriate rewards and recognition, etc. F. Where would you expect to be in two years? If you were to get this job and you were to perform up to your own highest expectations, what job title, rank, or other level would you expect to be at After completing your first year? After completing your second year?
Category 3. Scenarios & What-ifs 1.Mrs. Jones is picking up a cake. You bring it to her, and as you are boxing it, you notice she looks a bit unhappy. You ask her if she likes her cake and she hesitates to answer. What is your next move? a.the cake looks alright to you, so you keep boxing it up and send her on her way. b. Ask her if there is something we can change on the cake. c. Get a manager because you don't know what to do. 2. John is getting 6 chocolate donuts. He wants them in a bag. You know that if you do that, the chocolate will come off the top of the donuts. What is your next move? a. Do what he asks, the customer is always right. b. Suggest putting them in a box, to protect the look and taste of the donuts. c. Put them in a box instead. 3. You are alone up front (which doesn't happen often) and the phone is ringing. A customer walks into the bakery at the same time. What to you do? a. Ignore the phone and take care of the customer in the store. b. Answer the phone, no one wants to hear the phone ringing. c. Greet the customer and ask them to wait while you grab the phone. 4. There is a lot of bread out today to be bagged. Customers come in the store but if you stop bagging the bread, it may not get done fast enough. What do you do? a. Acknowledge the customer from your table,let them look around, they will let you know when they are ready. b. Yell for someone else to come up front and wait on them. c. Stop bagging bread and help the customer. They are important too. 5. A customer has an allergy to peanuts. She is trying to get some cookies but is concerned about the allergy. What do you do? a. Insure her that there are no peanuts in the cookies, and she should be fine. b. Don't sell her anything in the store. c. Inform her that all the products are made on equipment shared with peanuts and let her make the decision from there.
6. There is a personal issue with another coworker. What do you do? a. Don't talk to them at work, it's not worth the trouble. b. Go about your day as usual, you are at work after all. c. Ask your other coworkers what you should do about the situation. 7.There is a mess in the ladies restroom that needs immediate attention. What do you do? a. Get a cleaning person to take care of it when they get time. b. Clean the bathroom immediately. c. Put an "Out of order" sign on the bathroom door. 8. You notice a customer sitting in the dining room waiting on a sandwich. He's been waiting quite a while. What do you do? a. Check the kitchen to make sure his order is in the works. b. Yell at the kitchen staff to see what's taking so long. c. Give him a refund for his wait time. 9. There is an order for 10 am for specialty cookies. The time is 9:45 and they have yet to come out. What do you do? a. The bakers should know what time it is, the cookies will be out soon. b. Gently remind the bakers about the order and time. c. Keep bagging your bread, the morning crew should have handled the orders. 10. You fill up the pan of red velvet cupcakes. When you are done, you notice there are only a dozen left in the freezer. What do you do? a. Let the decorators know we are low so they can make more. b. We are not out, so it's not a big deal. c. Take some off the pan and put them back in the freezer. These are just sample questions for us to get a better understanding of your situational awareness. Thank you for your honest answer to each situation.
Category 4. Notifications and useful information Before coming in for an interview, there are several things that we would like you to be aware of: This is a job that requires standing on your feet for the majority of your shift. If you have problems with your back or feet, this may not be the job for you. You may be asked to take and pass a drug test before you can be hired or after you have been hired. Proper uniform is required for work: including a company shirt, closed toe shoes, proper length shorts/pants, and hair restraint. Punctuality is essential for any job you may ever have. This is a job where team work is required, if you are NOT a team player, this may not be the job for you. We are hard workers. We expect hard work from our employees. We do not work in the land of rainbows and unicorns. If that is what you are looking for, we suggest you keep looking. For jobs requiring certification or licensing, please bring your original license with you if you are invited for an interview. Backround checks may be run on you. If you apply, make sure your information is correct so we can contact you if we decide you will be a good fit for our company. I certify that the information provided here is accurate. Signed Date